Storage drawer for pricing system



June 18, 1957 R. 0. SMITH 2,796,171

STORAGE DRAWER FOR PRICING SYSTEM Filed Nov. 1, 1955 IN V EN TOR.

El BY ROBERT 0. SMITH M,Mv-Q-J United States Patent STORAGE DRAWER FORPRICING SYSTEM Robert 0. Smith, Seattle, Wash.

Application November 1, 1955, Serial No. 544,279

2 Claims. (Cl. 206-73) The present invention relates to a novel deviceparticularly designed for the convenient storage of printed cardboard orplastic strips commonly used in grocery stores to indicate the name orprice of goods, but it is to be understood that the invention can beused as well for the storage of other strips, tags, or labels.

My invention aims to provide such a container which is of simple andeconomical construction and yet has means for gripping the strips in amanner permitting each to be easily individually removed from thecontainer and readily replaced therein.

With yet additional objects and advantages in view which, with theforegoing, will appear and be understood in the course of the followingdescription and claims, the invention consists in the novel constructionand in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a top perspective view of my storagedevice with parts brokenaway.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken alongline 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken along line 3-3of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings it is seen that an open-top rectangularcontainer having end walls 11 is subdivided by trays l3, 14 whose endwalls are denoted 15, 16, respectively. The container and trays may beof conventional paper-covered cardboard construction and the former maybe provided with a lid 19. End walls 15, 16 of the trays abut the insidefaces of the containers end walls 11 and are desirably secured theretoas by staples 17.

Stretching along the longitudinal centerline of the strips it isdesirable to leave more than one spring convolutions which would bearagainst one another if the spring were in a relaxed state. The endconvolutions of these springs grip the end walls of the trays and thoseconvolutions endwise of the trays are lodged and thus gripped betweenthe end walls of the trays and the end walls 11 of the container. Thisgripping of the end convolutions discourages sidewise shifting of thesprings, and furthermore, such shifting is positively limited by thestaples 17. It will be noted that the springs are tensioned sufficientlyto separate the convolutions so that each strip 20 to be stored can bereadily inserted between an adjoining pair of convolutions.

The depth of the trays is made substantially the same as the diameter ofthe springs and the depth of the container is determined by the maximumheight of the strips to be stored. Perforce the trays may also be ofvaried widths depending upon the length of the strips.

In some instances for maximum ease of removal of the strips it isdesirable to leave more than one spring convolution between adjoiningstrips so that the top edges of each strip can be most easily gripped.Increased spacing between strips is also desirable if multiple kinds ofstrips are in the same tray, since the increased spacing permits each tobe read and thereby identified without first having to be removed.

The advantages of the invention, it is thought, will have been clearlyunderstood from the foregoing detailed description. Minor changes willsuggest themselves and may be resorted to without departing from thespirit of the invention, wherefore it is my intention that nolimitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given ascope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which theemployed language admits.

What I claim is:

1. In a storage device, a rectangular container, multiple rectangulartrays mounted in the container and arranged side-by-side across thewidth of the container, said trays being shallower than the depth of thecontainer and extending the full length of the latter, and a respectivecoil spring tensioned between the end walls of each tray to separate itsconvolutions and extending along the longitudinal centerline of thetray, said spring having a diameter approximately the depth of the trayand having end convolutions gripping the end walls of the tray andlodged between these end walls and the end walls of the container andmeans securing the end walls of the trays to the end walls of thecontainer.

2. In a device for storing strips of a given maximum width and length, arectangular container as high as the maximum width of the strips,multiple rectangular trays mounted in the container and arrangedside-by-side across the width of the container, each of said trays beingshallower than the container, as wide as the maximum width of thestrips, and extending the full length of the container, and coil springstensioned along the longitudinal center lines of the trays for receivingthe strips between their convolutions, each of said springs having endconvolutions gripping the end walls of the respective tray and lodgedbetween these end walls and the end walls of the container, and meanssecuring the end walls of the trays to the end walls of the container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

